Volunteer State News

There were 12 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending July 31, a 50 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 31, there were 1,559 deaths in the state. 19.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.7 percent were from cancer and 11.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.2 percent of deaths were from Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Studies show doctors and medical examiners may underreport Alzheimer's disease and dementia-related conditions as the underlying cause of death on death certificates, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Once infected, older adults with dementia are likely to develop a more severe and dangerous illness. The diseases which make an older adult more vulnerable to COVID-19 are age-associated chronic conditions, according to the Bright Focus Foundation.

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Heart disease	308	309
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	292	281
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	93	69
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	89	67
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	83	79
Cerebrovascular diseases	82	71
Alzheimer's disease	45	52
Diabetes mellitus	40	47
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	18	16
Influenza and pneumonia	12	24

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	112	125